


Aftermaths

by ArwenAileon



Category: Humans (TV)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-12-14
Updated: 2016-12-14
Packaged: 2018-09-08 11:48:00
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,703
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8843539
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ArwenAileon/pseuds/ArwenAileon
Summary: In the aftermath of the silo tragedy, Max takes the survivors to the safe haven he has built alongside Flash. After such a big loss, they all have a lot to process before they can decide what their next move should be.





	

Flash had been unable to calm herself down ever since Max had left to find his siblings. His words had given her the confidence she needed to take care of the situation and to look after Connie and Hubert but for some reason she still couldn’t stay still.

In the couple of hours that Max had been gone, she had already gone through the entire train organizing and placing new flower arrangements three times. She constantly found something that could be cleaned up better or a flower that she thought would look better somewhere else. Flash knows very well how useless the repeated action is. Both of the new additions to their home look quite confused, knowing that as well, and she hates that she can’t give them a good answer.

“Max will come back soon and everything is going to be alright. There’s nothing to be worried about.”

Her own behavior keeps reminding her of the one particular night Harmeet and Arvinder when they were younger and wouldn’t go to bed despite her constant attempts of trying to get them to. Their father, her primary user, hadn’t arrived yet and they were worried for him. In the end it turned out to be a delay caused by traffic, just like she had told the children back then. But for some reason she can’t stop replaying the look of relief on their faces when they heard their father arrive home.

Comparing both situations, now that she could understand the memory better, makes her realize that she wasn’t worried about being able to take care of Connie and Hubert or any new synth that might arrive while Max was gone when he was about to leave.

She was worried about Max not returning.

The thought makes her stop moving. She doesn’t like the idea of Max not coming back. Flash still felt embarrassed about having kissed his cheek when he left but that now seems like such a small inconvenience compared to that possibility. It brings her a different kind of pain; one that she knows isn’t physical. Her body isn’t damaged in any way, she knows that.

Connie’s hand on her shoulder snaps her out of her thoughts. Her face looks filled with concern and Flash soon realizes she doesn’t want that. She doesn’t want her or Hubert to be as worried as she is. So she gives them the warmest smile she can manage and declares that all that pacing had run down her power and she needs to charge.

It isn’t a lie per say, but she doesn’t need to charge that badly. So she sits by the window and plugs herself in without going into sleep mode. Sooner or later Max is going to show up and she’s going to be ready to welcome him back to their home.

Maybe she might even tell him what she had realized, if she figured out if it’s an appropriate course of action or not.

\---------

It’s well into the night when Flash sees something approaching the train.

A better look reveals that the something is Max finally coming back. Except he’s with a lot more people than she’d expected: she imagined he’d just come back with Matilda and his brother Leo and his sister Mia.

Flash quickly unplugs herself and hurries out of the train to meet with the group. A total of six synths, without counting Max, and a new human whom she assumes is Leo from the way Max is holding him to help him walk. All the synths are wearing the same clothes: grey pants and long sleeved shirts. Had Leo and Mia managed to break into the place Matilda mentioned? That should be a good thing, in theory. The synths were finally free and able to join their safe haven.

Then why does Max look so… sad?

“Max? What happened?”

He sneaks a glance at Leo before answering. “Out of it” is the best expression Flash can come up to describe how he looks: a blank look on his face, staring at nothing, detached. She thinks it might be a case of shock, a physiological response to a traumatic event, but that doesn’t answer any of the questions that are quickly forming inside her head.

“I’ll explain later. But first we need to get everyone settled down. They’ve been through a lot. Do you think Hubert and Connie could help as well?”

She nods and goes back into the train to request Connie and Hubert’s help in fetching clothes for the new synths as well as charging cables. Max had made sure that they had enough of both when they settled down there. He explained to her that their worker’s clothes wouldn’t help them blend in with humans if they ever had to leave their home to look for something.

Flash takes care of three of them, tries to calm them down as best as she can. Two are scared while the remaining one looks relieved to have left the place she was in before. She constantly feels the desire to ask them what they’ve been through yet something inside her tells her it might be better to hold on to those questions. Instead she gives them reassuring words about how the place they are in is their home now and how they don’t have to be afraid anymore. They are friends now and friends help each other.

It makes her incredibly happy when those words get a smile out of the female synth.

Soon enough, all the new synths are charging and wearing their new clothes. All except one whom Flash soon figures out is Mia. It’s not that hard to guess that’s her: she’s the only one who didn’t look scared or confused out of the new arrivals. She’s standing by the window looking in the direction they had come from when Flash approaches to offer her clothes.

“I have my own,” she says while shaking her head slightly. “Thank you.”

“My name is Flash. Max has told me about you; it’s nice to finally meet you.”

All she gets out of the exchange is a nod which she interprets as polite acknowledgement of her greeting. Mia clearly doesn’t feel like talking, or so she assumes. So the best course of action she can come up with is telling her to let her know if she needs anything. Another nod serves as her answer so she takes that as an indication to leave and go talk to Max.

She finds him leaving the last passenger car of the train. A quick look into it reveals Matilda sitting on one of the seats; she’s talking to someone sitting on the seat in front of her-Leo, probably, as he’s the only person she still has not seen again. Flash wastes no time in turning her attention back to Max. He’s frowning as he walks closer so but still gives her a tiny smile which she returns, then reaches for her hand.

They sit together on a different passenger car and Max keeps holding her hand across the table that unites the opposing seats. She runs circles with her thumb over his hand like he did with her before leaving earlier hoping the gesture brings him comfort. She remains silent, waiting for him to talk if he wants to. It’s not like she minds the silence when it comes to being with him.

It doesn’t take too long for him to start talking, though. It’s almost as if he’s been waiting to have a calm moment to pull himself together in order to talk about what happened.

“There were a lot more synths inside the silo. There were dozens of them wanting to get out. Mia told me there was a perimeter that reacted to a device inside their heads, something none of them knew about. Leo only got a few of them to stop before it was too late.”

His hands tighten slightly around hers as he speaks and her eyes widen when she realizes what he means by “too late”. Only five out of dozens of synths made it out. The rest were dead. It takes her a while (too long, in her opinion) to think of an answer.

“But you still got five of them out. They are alright, they are safe here. It… might not feel like an accomplishment considering all the ones that didn’t make it, but it still is one.”

Her delivery is full of hesitation as she’s unsure if it’s the right thing to say or not. It’s not exactly a situation she has ever gone through before. But her words do get a slightly bigger smile out of Max. It’s almost as if he hadn’t thought about it. She’s not saying that losing so many conscious synths is a good thing, but there are some that made it. It’s them who they have to focus on, or so she believes.

“I think I needed to hear that.”

“And you’re together with your family again. From what you’ve told me about them, I think you missed them a lot. And I’m aware it’s out of place for me to speak for them, but… I also think they both need you right now.”

Max nods at that. The younger synth is glad that she didn’t overstep any boundaries by making that last comment. She didn’t want to add a burden to Max by saying something wrong. His tone is still serious when he speaks again, though.

“We’re going to need to get some food for Leo and Mattie.”

“I could make them cheese sandwiches. Do you think they’d like cheese sandwiches?”

Flash gets surprised by Max’s sudden laugh. She hoped that callback to their earlier conversation would lighten up the mood a little and she’s happy to see that it worked.

“If they are made by you, I’m sure they will love them.”

She squeezes his hand with a big smile on her face, feeling proud of herself for bringing a bit of happiness for him after such a dark day. Her earlier discovery could wait until a better time. Now she just wanted to help him and the others to get through this.


End file.
